Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Two UK sources, here and here, report the same story: a young autistic girl, Melanie-Rose Wichmann, was "shut in a tiny, windowless room for getting upset at school." She "begged to be let out." She "has suffered anxiety attacks since the incident in February last year."

A judge ruled that shutting Melanie-Rose in that "tiny, windowless room" was discrimination based on her disability. An autistic child "should not have been left, even briefly and for the best of motives, alone in a small room from which she could not get out."

Melanie-Rose's mother is quoted as saying: "I know that despite what anyone says, regardless of their disability, you don't treat children like this. I wanted to fight this no matter what. I wanted to fight for her and for all the other kids out there in similar situations."

When a particular student acts up, Amy Giles sometimes places the girl in a tiny, windowless room and closes the door. Then Giles stands outside the closet-like chamber, waiting patiently until the child settles down.

If it were another child, it might seem cruel. But Giles, a Westborough resident, is probably that student's best chance for a quality education. Giles teaches at the New England Center for Children on Route 9 in Southborough, a school that is at the forefront of educating children with autism, a neurological disorder that dramatically inhibits the way a child learns.

"We don't want to be the biggest program for autism," said Judy Cunniff Serio, director of administration. "We want to be the best."

Thursday, March 05, 2009

A few days ago, Canada's senators were debating a law about autism. According to Senator Wilbert J. Keon, this proposed law, Bill S-210, would establish "World Autism Awareness Day in Canada, to be celebrated each year on April 2."

Senator Keon states:

Through the passage of this bill, we are showing that we truly respect Canadians with autism.

And what is the direction and purpose of this proposed Canadian law, a law to raise autism awareness, by which our government is to show that it truly respects autistic citizens? Senator Keon explains:

We must now do the necessary research to understand what autism is; then we must eliminate it as we did with smallpox and polio.

So parliament's power will be used to spread awareness--to inform schools, families, employers, communities, landlords, governments, and so on--that autism is as frightening and harmful, as dangerous to society and the public good, as smallpox and polio. And just like smallpox and polio, autism must be eliminated--regardless of science and ethics, regardless of the wishes of autistics and/or parents of autistics. According to Senator Keon, who demands a Canada free of autistic people, this is the kind of awareness Bill S-210 is all about.